Conservation and Watershed Communities: A Visit to Miyun Reservoir

09 July 2009 | News story

IUCN China organized a field trip to the Miyun Reservoir with participants from the “International Workshop in Conservation and Sustainable Development” on May 30, 2009.

During the field visit, participants were introduced to Miyun reservoir which now supplies drinking water to the 17 million residents in Beijing, and how forests are vital in conserving and protecting the health of the watershed. There was a discussion on alternative livelihood options for local communities for better protection of the watershed, and the use of landscape conservation approach on forest and watershed management, biodiversity assessments, among other key concern of the Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy (LLS) in China.

Participants at the 4-day workshop discussed about using human-natural systems approach for solving eco-environmental problems and promoting the sustainable development of fragile landscapes. This workshop brought together a group of social, biological, and physical scientists to examine conservation and sustainable development issues in fragile mountainous landscapes across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Hengduan, Hindu Kush-Himalayas, Karakorum, and Pamir.

The conference was co-organized by Beijing Normal University and Cornell University, and co-sponsored by Environmental Geoscience Branch of Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, the Higher Education Press of China, World Agroforestry Centre and the Nature Conservancy, the China Society of Tibetan Plateau and IUCN.